Menu

A little bit of everything, for the hardcore and the casual

How to confirm a sequel to fans

I really enjoyed 2012’s Hitman: Absolution. It had its flaws, of course, but it was really fun (and sometimes stressful) to find creative ways for killing your targets solving the puzzles. That, combined with the franchise’s reputation, sold 3.6 million units at retail (it could also be purchased digitally), although it failed to meet Square Enix’s (its publisher) unreal expectations.

Square Enix Montreal (a different studio) was entrusted with continuing the saga, but recent rumors seemed to put that in a hiatus. However, after some clarifications regarding the franchise, today IO Interactive (the original developer) posted “An open letter to all Hitman fans“. In it, they confirm they are working on a new Hitman game for PC and next-gen consoles.

The juiciest part comes from the list of features the game will have:

The game concentrates on the core Hitman fantasy…

…using the best parts and what we have learnt through Hitman: Absolution and drawing inspiration from past titles like Contracts and Blood Money to fulfil the core Hitman fantasy.

Our aim is to create living, breathing and believable levels which will allow gamers to play around with the AI to create those unique moments every fan of the Hitman franchise loves.

Contracts Mode is back.

You will also be glad to hear that we have removed 47’s magic pockets.

In other words, they aren’t try to challenge fans, but to please them. According to their judgement, it’s time for playing safe, for showing that they heard the hardcore fans’ feedback. Innovations will surely appear later. After all, a big game like this will probably need at least 1 extra year of work.

I appreciate the tone of the letter (although I’m a little worried about how they’ll handle the “checkpoint-free, sandbox levels”), especially after the distasteful marketing campaignHitman: Absolution had.